Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Yay and Boo

Never pleasure without pain, right? I'm happy to see that America proved me wrong and voted a black man for president. This gives me hope. On the other hand, my prediction on prop 8 was accurate, since gays have lost EVERY time their issues are put before the populace. It is only the courts saying, "Hey, wait a minute, America is built on the principles of personal freedom so we mustn't discriminate." Then the 97% of the population who aren't (isn't) gay decide to insert an exception to liberty into the constitution. Look at Florida where gay marriage is now double extra banned. Nice. And how is it a simple majority is all that's required to change a state constitution? It should at least be 60/40 don't you think?

I checked out the contributions made from the area where I grew up. It was horrible. 95 percent of the contributions were for prop 8 (for banning gay marriage) and they were huge contributions of thousands of dollars. The odd contribution against was usually 50 or 100 dollars. Yes I grew up in bigot land, sigh.

I saw Religulous the other day, the film by Bill Maher who basically debunks the veracity of religious texts and makes a strong case for religion being more harmful than good. But the thing that stayed with me was when he cited a statistic that there are 14 million Jews in the world. I was shocked. That's it?! And there's a billion people on the planet (that's 1000 million) who have trouble accepting the Jews' existence. There are more populous cities in the world than there are Jews on the planet. Anyway, we gays and Jews seem to have a lot in common in that we are seen by many (most?) others as an abomination. At least we have good company.

Humans may wish there was no God but since you like to look at nature go out on a clear night and look up. Billions of stars each one bigger than earth and the little Earth speeding threw space at over 65,ooo miles per hour. When there was nothing in the Universe how was everything made? Come let us reason together said the lord. In the beginning God... ed

I know you know this, but just wanted to add that not *all* of the 97% that isn't gay decided to insert that exception. I'm straight and sent $ to CA for No on 8 and am ill this morning to see it passed. It's a loss for more than the gay population. It's degrading for all of us who value equality.

oh yeah, we're in great company...of the hated and looked odwn upon. but i hope it might change, even slightly, even a bit, we might see it differently by the time our lives are over. YEAH and BOO were the perfect words to choose. I hate hatred. It sucks ass big time.

And people wonder why we Jews always talk so loud. Do you have any idea how hard it is to be heard when you are only .2% of the world's population? I think people might want to cut us a little slack now and then. Especially considering 16% of you STILL want us all dead.

6 million died in the holocaust, imagine how many more there could be! Yay, Obama won!And, Bill Maher was on Ellen yesterday and said the funniest thing, about if Obama won, white people would be protesting and rioting, looting Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel. It was hillarious!

I totally agree that any change to any constitution should be "difficult" to do. Not only should it be something approved by a vast number of people, but it should require some process that makes us think ong and hard before we act unadvisedly in haste.

Interesting that the biggest financial contributor to passage of Prop. 8 was the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic Men's Organization that doesn't permit women in their group - discrimination supporting more discrimination.

You also forgot the absurd Arkansas measure that passed banning gay adoption.

Allowing the majority to decide the rights of a minority is never a sign of a free society. I can only hope that an Obama victory will start to challenge the use of hatred in political fights. In many ways, he will have the hardest first term as president since FDR.

I'm disappointed about 8 to say the least. The only thing saving me is that Obama won. He mentioned "gays and straights" in his acceptance speech in a respectful and inclusive way. The tide seems to be turning. In 2000 the same measure passed with 61% of the vote - now it's 52%. I guess that's progress but it still pisses me off. They JUST DON"T GET IT! (and you know who "they" are)

Like you, I am ecstatic AND dismayed this morning. This is the problem with confusing "democracy" with "majority rule". Any true democracy worthy of the name knows that one if is most important tasks is to protect the minorities from the tyranny of the majority.

For me, personally, the stunning joy of seeing a black person elected -something I frankly did notthink I'd live to see- is unpleasantly tainted by this proof, once again, that so many people are hateful idiots.

Our democratic forebears warned of the dangers of "tyranny of the majority", but like most history lessons, people don't generally listen. Personally, I think all those California gay folks should move to the Northeast. New York would honor their marriages, as would Massachusetts and now Connecticut. And since we're starting the groundwork for full marriage equality here in Maine and Focus on the Family recently bought out our homegrown hate group, we could use more bodies on our side.

I'm also very happy about the election results. We've come a long way but we still have so far to go when it comes to human rights. Jews, gays, they are all human - not afer any sort of special rights, just equal ones.

I just want to say that yes, it is terrible that Prop 8 passed in California and similar measures passed in other states. But, the issue does not end there. There are still states who've protected gay rights and this issue might go all the way to the Supreme Court.

The election of the first mixed race President is a testament to the opportunities and ideals of America. There are people still alive today, who grew up in segregation, denied the right to vote, beaten or tortured because of their skin color. They didn't believe this day would come. And it has come. It's proof that while change can be slow and the fight for freedom is long and painful, it can happen.

When Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man, I don't think she realized her defiant act would spark the Civil Rights movement.

It will take sacrifice, it will take hard work, but it can be done! Just as the Civil Rights activists worked long and hard (and died)for the cause, so too will gay rights activists fight for equality. I believe it can happen.

The battle on Prop 8 may be lost, but the war for civil rights still rages on. And as long we fight, we keep hope alive, we give the movement a chance to grow.

It will not be easy, but it will be worth every sacrifice. If we work together and work hard, we can do great things. And the election of a mixed race President proves that it can happen in America.

I understand that there are law suits being filed regarding the Prop 8 win for the Mormons and all the Blacks that voted against gays and lesbians being able to marry. It is ironic to think that blacks, knowing just how bad discrimination and civil rights abuse was to their cause, would turn right around and do it to another minority.

This is a religion forcing their views on us and infringing upon our civil rights. I have the feeling this may go to the Supreme Court if the California Supreme Court doesn't declare this proposition unconstitutional.

The latest is that if Obama had run for President in any other election year than the same as Prop 8 that Prop 8 would have been defeated. And they went on to say further that the population that helped put it over the top was the populace that had been crying for civil rights for decades: the African American populace. Don't know if I agree. There is also the Hispanic population which can be very religious and rooted in Catholicism.